Expect the Unexpected
by Barrel Racing Brat
Summary: Katniss Everdeen is a rich girl from a respected horse training family. Cato is the enemies son. Both know their way around a rodeo, and know to be prepared for anything with the horses, but are they prepared for each other? I suck at summaries. Pleas read!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

KPOV

Sharp turn, gallop, sharp turn, gallop, last turn, run home. My name is Katniss Everdeen. I am a 16 year old horse rider, my dad died in a car accident; I was left his fortune, estate, and everything else. My family ran a well-known horse training facility. We all know how to rodeo and show jump. Recently, my mother ran out on my sister and I, leaving us to handle boarding, feed, and being financially independent. Well isn't life just great.

"Good run Catnip, just try and make him bend a little bit more. He is not making it completely around the barrel." My best friend and timer Gale told me. I had been working with the young stallion for 8 months and his owner finally gave me permission to take him to a rodeo. Champion had come a long way. At first he bucked and chomped on the bit when going around the barrels, and now he is quiet and careful. I couldn't help but pat the horse lovingly.

"Thanks Gale. Hey, do you mind hooking up the trailer? We need to get going." I told him. He nodded and walked off to the truck to hook up. I lead Champion to the side of the arena and started to loosen up tack. The saddle that he was wearing was the one my dad had bought me a year ago. It was a dark saddle with silver conches all over it. I ran my hand over the leather, remembering when I had begged my dad for this one out of all of the other saddles. I remembered the first rodeo I had with this saddle. I placed 2nd to my number one enemy, Clove Knight. Clove and I have hated each other since we could start competing against each other. Her family was a well-respected horse family as well. Her brother is a roper, her dad was a roper, her mother was a barrel racer, and she is a barrel racer. Rumor has it, Clove and her brother Cato will be riding in this rodeo as well. Just great.

I loaded Champion into the trailer while he was tacked up, since we only have a 15 minute ride to get to the arena, and got into the truck. Gale started to drive off and we were on our way to see if I could show the Knights up. After the 15 minute ride of silence, we got to the arena grounds and parked the truck. I unloaded Champion, got my number, and rode him to the warm up arena. I just looked out of the corner of my eye and saw Cato and Clove warming up as well. I just kicked my horse into a trot and started to go around the arena. After about 6 loops, I had him break into a lope, and ended up passing Cato and his gelding that were doing the same thing I was. Again, after 6 loops, I slowed him down to a trot and finished warming up. The announcer called for all riders to leave the arena and wait for the rodeo to start in 10 minutes. I went over to my trailer and tied Champion. I remembered my first time competing at this arena. I was 12 and it was my first rodeo ever. My dad looked at me and said "make me proud". I ended up winning that rodeo and that was how Clove and I came to be enemies.

My 10 minutes of a day dream were up. All barrel racers were being called to the line-up. I was 3rd to go, 2 people from Clove, who was going first. Her number was being called to go, and she shot off down the alley-way. She took her first turn wide and her second turn sharp, effectively knocking it over. She swore under her breath and kicked her horse into high gear for the last barrel. She took the turn well, and high tailed it home. Her horse came shooting out of the alley and the girl ahead of me shot out. Let's just say that she is no competition. Next thing I know, I am being called into the arena. I pushed my black hat down onto my dark brown braid to keep it in place, and kick Champion into high gear. He started to sprint to the first barrel, slowed down and bent around the first turn with complete and utter perfection. After that, the rest of the ride went by in a blur. He didn't hit any other barrel and managed to keep his form. We got a time of 16.2 seconds and took the top spot. As I walked away from the arena, I saw Clove glaring at me and my friend Glimmer getting ready for her run in goat tying. Cato just looked at me with an impassive glance and turned away to keep talking to his father. Isn't this going to be a fun night.

A/N

Okay, please be brutally honest with me on how this story is. A lot of my stories will involve either basketball, cross country, or rodeo. Tell me if I should keep going with this story or if I should stop writing it. I ran out of ideas with one of my other stories and started to read Katniss/Cato pairings and fell in love with the idea so I decided to write one of my own. Let me know please what you think of the story so far. Cato will come in more later if you want me to keep writing.


	2. Chapter 2

Ch 2.

All of the other runs in barrels were not nearly as good as mine. Some of them could have been if they had paid attention to how their horse was moving. The good thing is, this rodeo is only a pre-lim to the big event. After every event has been run, they are going to post the results for the top 5 riders that are going to the Semi-finials, then after that it is championship. I watched Glimmer do her goat tying and realized that she might make it to the preliminaries. Her time was a 5.2 seconds.

I stayed and watched the last 4 events and went to the bulletin board. For goat tying, Glimmer got 1st followed by a Jessica, and a Hannah both with a time in the 6 seconds, then I looked at the barrel racing. I placed 1st with Clove coming in 2nd. She turned around from the board and pinned me to the ground.

"How did you do it? Huh? Did you give your horse some kind of energy feed to give him extra speed? Or did you find a way to actually beat me? You have never beaten me before you know. SO how did you do it today?" She sneered. She was BEYOND pissed. She was right. I usually don't beat her, but she did some many things wrong where as I did so many things right.

All of a sudden, Clove was being ripped off of me and was being held by her brother Cato. I vaguely heard Glimmer screaming at her and Gale yelling at her to calm down. I got up, dusted myself off and walked to my trailer, not saying a word to her. I loaded Champion up and waited on Gale to come and take us all home. As I waited I thought about how Champ ran. He had a good bend in his body on all of the barrels, and he had an even stride but he did not catch his left lead and was slightly off balance on the 2nd and 3rd barrels. Over all, good run.

Gale got into the truck and started to drive it back to the ranch.

"So Katniss, what are the plans? The rodeo is next weekend right?" He asked me. I thought about my training schedule for the next week. Thank God I was not busy at all.

"I am going to work with Champ in the afternoon, giving me time to work with my other horses as well. Tomorrow we are going to start working again. We are not waiting. We are going to hit the ground RUNNING. The rodeo IS next weekend. Understand?" I asked him, trying to be as straight forward as possible and still not be rude. I had a long week ahead of me and I was tired. I have 2 horse to work with in the morning and I still have to help Prim with her homework all day. By the time we got home, I was half asleep. I unloaded Champ, made him comfortable in his stall and fed him. Gale took my tack and put it in the tack room. I walked to the house, kicked off my boots and trudged up the stairs. By the time I had made it onto my bed, I was asleep.

AN: Sorry for taking so long to upload this chapter. I have been REALLY busy with school and rodeo every weekend. My FFA chapter got 5th place in Jr. chapter conducting and 7th in Jr. Quiz. I am sorry again for not uploading recently. Thank you for all who reviewed. Please, as always, be brutally honest with my in all reviews. I will accept CONSTRUCTIVE comments. NOT bullies.

Thank you,

Barrel Racing Brat.

PS: Any questions about anything rodeo related, just PM me, I will let you know what the rules are, or what the specific technique is that I wrote out.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: I am only going to say this once. I am VERY BUSY! I do not have time to update every day. So if you have a problem with it, don't read my story. Or you can become patient. I have FFA, rodeo, school, cross country, basketball and homework. For a week now, I have been doing at least one thing per day. Once I had a FFA competition at 5 in the morning then a cross country race at 10 then I had to make it to a rodeo by 2. The next day I had a basketball tournament then a SHIT TON of homework. So if you have a problem with how fast I am updating, well let's just say, SUCK IT UP AND DEAL WITH IT! I am bringing this to attention because I received a review saying

"-_- wat the heck way to short

Turtles update faster then u

Or do a freakin longer chapter for cryin out loud!"

DEAL WITH IT IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3

I woke up to my alarm clock going off. I looked and noticed that it was 5 and I had to go out and start feeding.

I hustled my butt out of bed and pulled on my work clothes. I ran out the door and into the barn. The horses all knew what time it was and were starting to get antsy. I ran into the feed room and got everyone's feed and started to distribute. When I got to Champions stall I stepped in with him and watched him eat. He seemed fine considering last night was the first time he had been in a rodeo before.

I started to make my way to the tack room to get a lead rope when I heard a truck pull in. I figured it wasn't Gale since he lived on site. I stepped out of the barn just in time to see a Ford F350 pull in hauling a goose neck trailer. The driver stepped out of the car and my heart stopped. It was Cato. Clove's brother. He turned and looked at me, his sharp eyes piercing me. He walked up to me and started talking.

"Hey Katniss. I have a job for you. Unless you are too scared" he smirked.

"I'm not training your sisters horse if that was what you were gonna ask." I said quickly. He smiled.

"No. I was wanting to know if you are any good with roping horses. We cant seem to get him to focus out at our ranch and father is threatening to sell him to the dog food factory if we cant get him to rope." He said with a frown on his face. I understood how he felt. A horse his and rider can forge and share a strong bond.

"I'm not exactly the best with ropers, but I can try. I just don't want to have our sister up my ass about helping you. Go ahead and tell me everything that is wrong other than the fact that you cant get him to focus as you unload him." I said. He told me that Tucker, his horse, wouldn't break the barrier properly and couldn't seem to get on the cow like he is supposed to. This made me wonder if the horse was supposed to be a roper or if he was being forced.

Tucker was unloaded and I noticed immediately that he was in peak shape and had a bad attitude. He pinned his ears back when Cato reached for his lead and snapped at him. Cato yelped and smacked him. I went into the trailer and Tucker snapped at me. He caught skin and smacked the crap out of his nose. He popped his head up and looked at me with a shocked expression on his face. I snatched his lead rope and lead him out.

"He has been doing that for awhile. He doesn't want anyone coming near his face." Cato said. I lead Tucker to the pen and tied him to the railing. I went back to the trailer and got his saddle and bridle. I walked back to the pen and tacked him up.

"Run him around the pen. Do 12,10,8,6,4,2 both ways. Don't let him stop. I want to see his gait, and how he acts." I called out to Cato. I handed him a whip and watched him work. Cato's body language was tense and coiled like a spring, ready to jump. Tucker was tense as well. His gait and stride seemed to be fine. Tucker seemed to be responding to Cato's body language.

I let them finish and stepped in. I asked Cato to video tape me working with Tucker. I kept body relaxed and loose. I had Tucker run laps around me the same as I had Cato. I stop I stopped and lead him over to Cato. We watched the video and I noticed how he seemed to be looser and more relaxed and attentive. I explained the differences to Cato and showed him how to fix the problem. We took him to the practice arena and brought out one of the cattle. I got up on Tucker and he tensed up. I kept my body language loose and relaxed so he would lighten up and it worked. He was actually excited and ready to go. I gave Cato the signal to let the steer out and I got Tucker to break out of the square, smoothly and easily. He stayed on the cow until I roped it and he halted.

"I think the problem you were having Cato was you were tense and he wouldn't relax because he thought something was wrong. Just make sure you are relaxed and loose when you are in the square and he should be fine." I said to him. I dismounted and had him mount up. He went into the square and Tucker immediately tensed up.

"Relax Cato, your gonna be fine." I say and he visibly relaxed as did Tucker. Cato nodded to me and I released the cow. Tucker broke out fine and stayed on the cow again. Good run.

"Thank you Katniss. I owe you one." Cato said.

"Go ahead and take Tucker home. Gale will have a fit if he sees you here." I say to Cato. He takes Tucker over to the trailer and loads him up.

"Just make sure that if he snaps at you, you need to smack his nose and make sure it is hard. Keep yourself relaxed in the saddle and make sure that he is relaxed before you break barrier." I said as some last minute notes to him. Cato climbed into his truck and nodded to me, as he drove off. I checked the time and noticed that it was 6:30. All of this was done before Gale got up. So far it was a good morning.

A/N: I am sooo sorry that I didn't update. I was really busy. I have had a rodeo at least 3 times a week, I have FFA competitions coming up, and I just finished my first semester as a high school student. Again I am really sorry and I will try and update again soon.

Hugs!

Barrel Racing Brat


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 4

A/N: I just want to thank everyone who reviewed for their support.

Rockysheep123, toritwilight504, and chica058. A question was asked so I'm gonna answer. I have 2 American Quarter Horses. One is a mare (female) and the other is a gelding (clipped boy and he is not a proud cut). I barrel race on my mare. Anyone who has a dream to do something great, go for it. That's how I got into rodeo. Now for the main event….. CHAPTER 4!

Disclaimer- I do not own The Hunger Games characters. Only the situations and horses in this story. Now enjoy!

I couldn't get Cato's visit out of my head. His family knows I mainly deal with barrel horses. So why would he bring his roping horse here? I shook my head as if that could give me the answers. Just then Gale walked up.

"Who was here this morning? I heard you talking to someone and heard a truck pull away." He said. I quickly explained that I was talking to a man who had called the night before asking for a quick hour of help with his horse. I didn't want Gale to freak out knowing that Cato was here.

I quickly excused myself from the pen and lead the horse I was working with out with me. This horse had a fear of the saddle and the barrels. Fear of the barrels is perfectly okay. I can help them with that much. He had made a lot of progress. When he first got here I couldn't even dream of approaching him with a saddle. Now I could saddle him and ride him without a problem. His problem with the barrels is he will get really close to the turn and then spook. Bucking and bolting seemed to be his problem. But at least he will enter the arena with them now. I walked Samson over to the arena and started warming up. My goal today was to try and get him to completely turn around a barrel without a problem.

2 hours later, he was turning around the barrels. Granted he was turning wide, but he wasn't freaking out every time he approached one. Small victories count.

I took Samson into the barn to take care of him and I heard Gale on the phone. "Why were you here this morning Cato?" he asked, sounding pissed. I waited and heard Gale yell BS and slam the phone down after a few seconds. I hurried with my grooming Samson so I didn't have to deal with Gale's anger. Sadly, I wasn't fast enough. Gale came storming out of the office and started yelling at me for lying and being a traitor. Granted yes I did lie to Gale but I had hoped that he wouldn't find out for a few more days. At least until after the rodeo. He was so mad that he raised his hand to hit me and was stopped by the booming voice I had heard only a few hours ago.

"Let her go!" Cato yelled at Gale. I turned and saw Cato fuming. I swear I saw steam coming from his ears. Gale whipped around and glared at Cato.

"What are you doing here?" Gale seethed.

"When you abruptly hung up the phone I was in town. Not far from here actually and I had feared that you would hurt her. I came to make sure she was going to be okay." Cato said. Good thinking Cato. Who would have thought, your families rival is the one that ends up being the one who keeps you from getting smacked.

I hurried and unsaddled Samson, who happened to be getting very nervous, and pulled the saddle off of his back. Cato immediately came over and tried to take the saddle out of my hands, in an attempt to help me. I told him that I was fine and hurried to put it away. I put Samson in the paddock and tried to walk past Gale to the tack room. He stopped me with the look on his face, telling me Cato was still here. I looked at Gale then Cato then back at Gale.

"Cato do you want to help me with Champion? I could really use the help because he is a handful." I asked Cato, openly daring Gale to challenge me. He let me and Cato pass, a pleading look to me and a glare at Cato. I walked into the tack room and got all of Champions tack, allowing for help this time around and went and got Champ from his stall where he was happily munching on his hay.

Cato and I had brushed Champ until his coat shined and he looked like the Champ I know and love. As soon as he felt the saddle cinch on and the bit settle in his mouth, he was prancing and ready to go. We walked to the arena where I warmed him up. Then came the fun. I walked the pattern (which is harder said than done, then trotted, then loped it, then finally galloped the pattern. Every time I had him in the ally he was prancing and popping up, ready to run. Cato's mouth hung open after each run. His job was to time me and record the times. We started to shave time off of our runs every time. From 18 to 15 seconds in a few runs.

"Your runs are better than Cloves!" He exclaimed. I shrugged and started walking back to the barn. Gale was still sulking like a spoiled brat when we walked in. When he caught sight of us he walked up to Cato, snatched the clipboard with my times on it out of his hands, and stared in shock at my times. One after another record breaks. He slammed the board on the desk in the office then went to his little house on the hill. Cato and I laughed and worked on taking care of Champ, who thoroughly enjoyed the attention.

After we had finished Cato had gone home and I did my afternoon chores. This was a strange day.

A/N: Okay be 100 percent honest with me. Don't leave anything out. Should I keep going? Let me know! Love y'all! And if anyone has a question just ask!


	6. Chapter 6

Okay so I don't own the Hunger Games… sadly.

And with the rodeo language, I am so sorry, I just slip into it. When I say, stayed on the cow I mean the horse was right on their heels. Tucker is a horse. Sorry, I haven't updated lately, I have been really busy with rodeo, FFA and school. Well, here we go! Thank you to everyone who reviewed!

KPOV

Cato had been coming around a lot more after that. In the morning he would come around and help me with my chores, and watch me work with the horses, and then he would go home to do his own chores and his own work. Sometimes we would even go out onto the trails and ride. But that wasn't very often. Apparently he had a rodeo a few days ago and he said Tucker did great. So now it's time for me to work with Champion.

The past few days he had felt slow. Not like himself. I have 2 days until my rodeo and he is slowing down.

"Chill out Katniss. He will be fine." Cato said. Gale had been sulking in corners since Cato had been coming over here. Today we were gonna trailer the horses to the rodeo grounds, and tomorrow was a practice day. Then it was the rodeo. Sadly, Clove had the same idea. Gale and I had to ride in the truck together, and Cato and Clove were gonna be together. I would rather it be switched.

After loading up Champion, Gale and I headed to the grounds. He was quiet about half of the way there.

"Catnip, why do you tolerate him?" He asked,

"Because he is actually pretty friendly. Just because my parents and his parents hate each other doesn't mean that I have to hate him. But I still hate Clove." I replied.

"Your parents will kill you if they find out. Doesn't matter that you are their daughter, your hanging around their enemy's son. Not to mention Clove. She will strangle you, then him." He commented, with his know-it-all tone.

"I don't care. I know one morning he came over, asked for my help, and I gave it to him. I was pretty surprised when he asked." I said, rolling my eyes. I looked out the window and put my head phones in, ignoring Gale and whatever he had to say. I looked through my iPod for something interesting to listen to and found "Bleed it Out" by Linkin Park. Kinda werid for a country girl to lisen to them.

(I don't own "Bleed it Out"… Sadly. But here we go!"

Yeah here we go for the hundredth time! Hand grenade pins in every line!

Throw'em up and let something shine!  
Going out of my fucking mind!

Filthy mouth! No excuse, find a new place to hang this noose

String me up from atop these roofs! Knot it tight so I won't get loose.

Truth is you can stop and stare

Run myself out and no one cares

Dug the trench out laid down there

With a shovel up out of reach somewhere

Yeah, someone pour it in

Make it a dirt dance floor again

Say your prayers and stomp it out

When they say bring that chorus in!

(Chorus)

I bleed it out digging deeper just to throw it away

I bleed it out digging deeper just to throw it away

I bleed it out digging deeper just to throw it away

Just to throw it away, just to throw it away

I bleed it out!

(End chorus)

Go stop the show

Choppy words and a sloppy flow

Shotgun opera lock and load

Cock it back and then watch it go

Mama help me, I've been cursed

Death is rolling in every verse

Candy paint on his brand new hearse

Cant contain him, he knows he works

Fuck this hurts, I won't lie

Doesn't matter how hard I try

Half the words don't mean a thing

And I know that I won't be satisfied

So why try ignoring him

Make it a dirt dance floor again

Say your prayers and stomp it out

When they bring that chorus in!

(Chorus)

I've opened up these scras

I'll make you face this

I've pulled myself so far, I'll make you, face, this NOW!

(Chorus)

*Again, I don't own "Bleed it Out" and yes it is a pretty weird song, but look it up on YouTube if you have never heard it*

I looked out the window after the song and saw the rodeo grounds right in front of us. I took my headphones out and checked in. After checking in, I unloaded Champion and put him in his stall. I heard a familiar voice in the stall next to mine, and looked to see Clove with her horse. Just great.

AN: Okay that chapter was mainly the song. Review please. Be 100% honest and leave nothing out. Feel free to ask questions!


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